Missing Sid

I love Svenna. I really do. She's been just what I need over the last few months, and I know I'll continue to enjoy her. All that being said, there are times when I really miss Sid. He was such a nice horse to ride. I get regular updates from his new mommy, which is sweet.....but tough. They are working towards things that Svenna will never get to do. Which brings me to one of my most recent realizations: I need to stop comparing the two horses! They are COMPLETELY different, and they are supposed to be. That's why I picked her. Sigh.

Gift wrapped!

Anyway, some pics of Svenna in her new (admittedly ugly and inadvertently Christmas themed) blankie. She's so damn cute. I've been trail riding like a crazy person and she's been amazing. We've seen strollers, kids, cars, other horses, emus (yes really!!) flocks of geese, and cows and nothing bothers her. She loves to trot out in company and is really enjoying the chilly (read: SO COLD) weather.

 So I've written before about how crazy smart she is, but I think she is even cuter when she's being kinda dopey. See that pic which her pulling up the edge of the mat? Yea...she got her face down far enough, and the mat up high enough so that when she let it go with her foot she'd smack herself in the face with the mat. Repeatedly. I was dying laughing. She was almost not even surprised...no struggling or freaking out in the cross ties. Just bored and being over dramatic about it!

Her progress under saddle has been super. Picking up the canter much better, being more forward, all the usual baby steps. The important news is that we are having a JUMPING lesson on Friday or Saturday. I'm totally excited...we've been doing lots of poles and a few teeny tiny crossrails here and there, but I want to see what she does with a jump she can't just trot over.

So hopefully I have a good update later in the week. I'm on break for Thanksgiving so able to do a bit more riding/writing. And studying. Always more studying. Blah. I've been using my new ochem skills to research metabolic supplements for my fatty mare, so at least I'm using it for something, right??

More than just a pretty face

My schedule is still crazy busy but I had a friend come to the farm so I could finally get some pics of me actually riding the ponster. She's doing super well...no dumb blond here! I can hardly make a shape or do a certain exercise more than once without her feeling like she's got it all figured out. Her biggest "flaw" is still how stiff she is, but she is making huge strides in terms of learning to move over her back instead of the typical pony nose-in-the-air no bend routine that she started with. 

Tiny pony strides are getting longer

She's never going to be some super athletic big moving horse, but that's ok...I just need her to soften up, everywhere. She's WAY better than a few weeks ago, but still has a tendency to drag when she isn't sure what I'm asking or just plain doesn't want to do it. I'm having a lot of fun with her, and I'm curious to see how "nice" I can make her in terms of suppleness/gaits/responsiveness. Like I said, she's wicked smart, and is now very respectful and tries to be obedient, so the rest will come with strength and time. I'm excited, I love a project!

I know I asked about bits a few weeks ago and I thought I'd give an update on that front. After trying a few things I've ended up with a myler, a brand I've never had before. It's technically a kimberwick, but it has no real port and I've wrapped the bars of the bit and the curb strap with latex so it's nice and soft now. Also it articulates to the left and right so it's much clearer about left vs right than just a straight bar. There is very little leverage, and I mostly ride on the top rein, but the bottom rein is great to have when I need it. 

I still put her back in the HS D to check her progress periodically, as I would like to get her back in something dressage approved eventually, but for now its just what we need and makes riding a lot more pleasant!

She's much better in the canter, I'm making lots of circles and trying to help her get her balance. All her gaits are pretty downhill, which I'm thinking is as much about lack of strength and balance as it is about training. I'm SURE no one has ever asked her to sit down on her hocks before, so part of it is getting lost in translation, but for now I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt that she's chubby and unfit. Still cute as can be though!!!

Saying Goodbye

Even though Sid sold two weeks ago, school has been so crazy I didn't get to go and officially say goodbye till last weekend. I'm happy I din't wait any longer as I guess he left the sales farm this morning. Of course it was really, really sad, but sending him away for this whole process was the smart way to go. And the amount of work I have in my class has made me even more positive that it was definitely the right decision to sell. All of that said though, If I'd had to do it myself I don't think I could have. Looking at his cute face everyday would have been too much. So, being that I don't really have time to write anything thoughtful I took a bunch of pics and will let those do the talking. The weather was really horrific so please excuse the weird outfit. It is WA after all. 

Silly cheeky baby horse wonders why I even bothered  to come if I didn't bring carrots.
Also my laughing while crying face is not attractive. 

  

BF has the great idea to just give him his favorite- wild growing "spikey weeds"

I taught him to "make that face"- the finger in the air is the command. His new owner doesn't even know :(

No more messing around, really time to go. Our last picture together

He watched me walk alllllllll the way to the car, like he always does. Whenever I'm on the property with him he never takes his eyes off me. 

In other news, Svenna is still cute, even though I continue to take only unflattering pictures of her that make her appear very strangely conformed. And I finally found a dressage girth short enough to fit her (18"!!), so we put on the treeless dressage saddle for the first time today (Heather Moffet/enlightened equitation brand that I bought as a "back up" for when my treed saddles were not fitting/needing to be adjusted etc).

It was insanely windy, and I don't think she was super thrilled with my decision to ride anyways. I think her face says it all:

Burr-lets just eat food and snuggle inside

Anyway, I'm hoping to get some video of us together soon, as I really feel like she is starting to "get it". I'll for sure post it here so that everyone can see what a cute, sassy little thing she is under saddle. Also a jumping update coming soon!

It's official

I now only own ponies. Sid's new mom seems great, but it's just heartbreaking. Every little thing sets me off...the show clothes going to storage,  his blankets, boots, and bridles in every closet, pics of our first show on the mantel. The whole apartment is like a shrine to Sid. He isn't leaving the farm he's at for a while, so I'm going to go say goodbye next weekend. To top it all off I just got the professional pics from a few weeks ago. Someday when I'm a little less worked up over it I'll get my favorite framed:

I know it's the right decision for both of us, and I wish him and his new mommy all the best.

Svenna the trail mare!

After living through the first exam, I decided I deserved to have some much needed pony time! We ventured out on the trail with a friend of ours, with her on her very steady horse. The friend, however, is extremely nervous anyway, so we didn't make it far the first day. It was actually ok, all things considered, because Svenna really has done no "suburban" trail riding. She has spend a fair amount of time out in the mountains, but our trails are full of bikers, joggers, strollers, dogs, and the dreaded roller skaters! We even ran into a llama pulling a cart one day! Much different than trees, trees, and more trees, which is what she's used to.

Proof that there is occasionally sun in October

But despite all the hustle and bustle she was really well behaved, which really is no surprise. She just seems to take everything in stride. We went out for a much longer trail again yesterday with a different duo, a 17 hh WBx out for his first trail, and Svenna was a very good security blanket. And she kept up fine, which actually did surprise me! I thought I'd be trotting to catch up the whole time.

She's also been making a lot of progress in the ring, learning to bend that giant thick neck and relax her jaw. She's pretty darn athletic for her type, and I'm excited to introduce her to jumping. She has such a quick mind that I think she'll love it. We've been trotting over poles on the ground, and while she's a bit wiggly (which she is all the time if I'm honest) she always goes right over and doesn't try to evade too much. She's starting to get the hang of going sideways at the walk, and learning to differentiate when I'm asking her to move her haunches vs shoulder. Moving her body parts independently is going to be a huge step for her, as she tends to have the sort of tight, stiff, thick little pony body that wants to just careen around on the forehand.

Back to gray days in the PNW 

The canter is our biggest project at this point, and I'm basically happy with her if she picks up the right lead in a reasonable amount of time and keeps cantering until I ask her to stop. I throw in a few circles, but she is a horrible drifter. She was always ridden on the rail I suspect, because she does not know what to do with herself when she's not glued to it. But as long as I keep my whip in the outside hand, I don't have tooooo many problems with her diving back to the rail, but god forbid I forget me whip! I think that a lot of the "misbehavior" at the canter will resolve itself as she gets stronger/more coordinated/more comfortable in the gait. All in all, I am totally smitten with her, and she has been too much fun so far!

Also, I'll hopefully have a big Sid update in the next few days...keep your fingers crossed for me!

Ready, set....whine!

The same level of grump as me after 7 HOURS of lab. 

Turns out the bitting discussion was kind of a moot point, as I hardly have time to ride anyways. I'm at school till 8 or 9 every night, and have classes from 8:30 to 4 Tuesday through Friday. Not much time for anything really. My classes are really, really, REALLY hard. I have literally never been as bad at anything IN MY LIFE as organic chemistry. Not that biochem is super fun either. Ugh. I have my first exam on Tuesday, so I really shouldn't even be checking in here. But seriously I am driving myself crazy. And what looks better? The beautiful autumn stable:











 











or this horrific beast of a molecule?

Joy of joys!!

The first one. Duh. It's fall, which means beautiful riding weather, perfect hiking weather, great baking inspiration and time to do nothing. It's a good thing campus is so pretty, because the only time I get outside is when I'm hysterically running to and from tutoring/lab/class. 

Pretty colors

Yes, I know I'm super lucky to be in this situation where I get to have the cutest dog in the world, be a full time (non working) student, and have the best pony ever. I know I'm being a bit self pitying. But jeeze, personal growth is HARD!!

A "bit" of a quandry

Since getting Svenna I've been riding her in a HS two jointed D-ring (granted it's only been 5 times!). For the last several years, since being predominantly a dressage person I've been riding ONLY in loose ring/weymouth HS or kk Ultra bits, just various shapes/sizes/joints/diamiters etc. It's basically worked pretty well, especially because as a dressage rider you spend so much time developing contact that you could train your horse to go in almost anything. 

Before becoming a DQ I rode jumpers, and I almost always jumped them in something with a straight rubber/happymouth/or wrapped in latex mouthpiece, but with different points/amounts of leverage or lack thereof. I love the feel of jumping in a straight mouthpiece, but did all of my flatting on the jumpers in my "magic" bit, a 3 piece antique (literally) copper snaffle with 4 spinning rings that covered the middle piece. 

Sooooo...now that I have Miss Svenna I have been thinking about what would work best on her bit wise. I'm not thrilled with how she goes in the HS D ring.

I just had her teeth done, so it's not that. She's just very hard in the bridle. And for no reason. It's sort of the typical pony grabby thing, excepts all the time. She just takes up a lot of contact and tries to avoid turning by just sort of setting her jaw and ignoring. Now, she's pretty green to begin with, so I don't want to over bridle her or anything, but I would have a little more bridle so I don't have to pull so hard sometimes! I hate pulling on them, but I am certainly not going to let my little pony drag me all over the farm. Even though she's kinda green, she's a super trail horse, and I would like a little more bridle to trail ride in, as a "just in case" sort of precaution. It's nice to not have a bit discussion about turning!!

Out for a hack in bedhead

So, all that being said, I'm thinking about playing around with some different bit options. Maybe a full cheek for the intrem while she's learning to turn a bit better? Maybe a little two rein pelham so I have a snaffle or a bit of a "check" rein?  Maybe I should just be patient? I dunno. 

She is an absolute snuggle bugger, she wants her pets even before her grain! And she is already way more obedient, light, and forward under saddle which is super. Also today we cantered some circles both ways, even though I had to chase her into it both times. I took some more standing around pics today while she was begging for food over the fence...she's just so cute!

What a bod!

Tail needs work though...

So, what do you all think about the bitting issue? Should I wait it out or play with some new options? What do you ride in?

Also, got my two point challenge time today: 3:16! I'm shocked I lasted that long...must be all that elliptical cross training!!